July Trail Work
Thanks to everyone who joined us for trail days last month. Here’s just some of what we accomplished in July:
Beaver Tail
The newly-named Beaver Tail trail in Kings Beach is officially open following the July 12 ribbon-cutting ceremony, and the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. There’s still a bit of refinement and finish work to do, but we’ll do that later this summer or fall when moisture returns to the dirt.
A huge thank you to North Tahoe Public Utility District, Tahoe Central Market, and OutdoorGearLab for providing our hungry crews with lunch for the July trail days. Thank you also to all our dedicated volunteers and Crew Leaders, especially Kristen Martin del Campo, Jeff Coulter, Sue Hughes, and John Clausen.
A collaborative effort between TAMBA, the U.S. Forest Service LTBMU, Tahoe Fund, and the Truckee Tahoe Airport, Beaver Tail is a fun new trail approximately 1.5 miles long featuring berms, bumps, and booters embedded along the way.
Stanford Rock
We made great progress on Stanford Rock last month, thanks to a tremendous volunteer turnout. On one trail day alone, 11 dedicated volunteers showed up to help us sculpt dirt. TAMBA crews tackled a difficult section of trail as we re-route from a “bulldozer in a drainage” logging road to hand-built singletrack.
We were lucky to be joined by two board members from Access4Bikes, a mountain bike advocacy organization in Marin County. A4B President Vernon Huffman and Emil Mulholland came out to help on the trail. Vernon has more than 20 years of trail building and advocacy experience. He and TAMBA super volunteer Mike Wells tackled the most difficult section, moving thousands of pounds of rock, root balls, and deep duff to create a flowing turn. TAMBA crew leader Jeff Coulter led a group that built a beautiful flowing ribbon of trail with a rock-armored turn.
Thanks to everyone who joined us in July to work on Stanford Rock!
Tahoe Mountain
On July 21, volunteers from Barton Health joined our crews to tame the prickly whitethorn growing into the trail along the North side of Tahoe Mountain. Thanks to everyone who spent the day clipping whitethorn, the trail is a lot more pleasant to ride. A special thank you to Shoreline of Tahoe and Barton Health for hosting the trail day.
TAMBA was happy to give away some Northstar Bike Park lift tickets to a couple lucky Tahoe Mountain volunteers. We received the tickets as part of a generous grant from EpicPromise.
Lily Lake
TAMBA crews were hard at work on Lily Lake last month. After making progress on other parts of the trail we received some valuable training from Patrick Parsel, who worked on the Tallac Trail, on how to build through a challenging boulder field.
We’ll need plenty of help to tackle that boulder field, so check TAMBA’s Facebook page and calendar for upcoming trail days.
Corral
Thanks to the Fish family, you won’t get lost on Corral Trail anymore! They designed and installed two new kiosk map signs at the trailheads showing how to loop over to Mr. Toads Wild Ride or Cold Creek, connect to the Tahoe Rim Trail, or ride over to the Bijou Bike Park.
Stumpy SG Re-Route
Work on the Stumpy SG Re-route Trail above Tahoe City has begun, and TAMBA volunteers cleared most of corridor for Section 1. We also had some trail days in July dedicated to trimming the whitethorn and putting in tread.
One of our July trail days also brought out two World Cup skiers, American Travis Ganong and Canadian Marie-Michele Gagnon! They raised everyone’s energy level and we were grateful to have them help us out.
A Change to Corral Night Ride
We’re changing things up a bit for Corral Night Ride. New this year, Corral is FREE to all TAMBA members, our way of saying thank you for your support! Members can register here, and we’ll be emailing out the access code in mid-September.
Join us and your closest mountain bike friends on Saturday, October 12, for a ridiculously fun night riding bikes at Corral Trail. It’s the best night of the year – if you like to ride like a kid . . . in the dark . . . in a costume. All ages are welcome.
Like last year, the ride will be a “poker ride” with a healthy competition for who can make the best poker hand after receiving cards at each of the stops along the ride. Look for a bonus segment up to Armstrong Connector for extra cards.
Meet at the Corral parking area at 5:30 p.m. and expect to start riding around 6:00 p.m. We’ll party until who knows when. Prizes and rest stop snacks are included with your registration.
We need volunteers for the event, so if you’re interested please send an email to amy@TAMBA.org.
The Great Bingo Revival Fundraiser
On Wednesday, August 14, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., join us at South Lake Brewing Company for one of our most popular events of the year – our bingo fundraiser! The Great Bingo Revival is back to host this one-of-a-kind event.
This is not your grandma’s bingo night. If you don’t know about The Great Bingo Revival yet, read all about them in this feature by Powder magazine. Local favorite Chicken in a Barrel BBQ will be our on-site food vendor for the event.
When: Wednesday, August 14, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Where: South Lake Brewing Company, 1920 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
We hope to see you there!
Rose to Toads Volunteers Needed
While the second big event of the season, Rose to Toads on Monday, September 2, is sold out, we still need some volunteers. If you’re interested in helping out, send an email to amy@TAMBA.org.
Truckee Meadows Trails Survey
Want to weigh in on the future of non-motorized trails around Truckee Meadows? Truckee Meadows Trails is seeking your input on this important trail system. Click here to take their survey before August 30, 2019, and tell them what types of sustainable trails you’d like to see in the Truckee Meadows area.
Trail Building Class
On July 27, 24 students attended a basic trail building class led by Kevin Joell of TAMBA. Thanks to Sierra Trail Works for their logistic support, T’s Mesquite Rotisserie in Incline Village for heavily-discounted lunch, Sky Tavern for the use of their classroom, and Biggest Little Trail Stewardship for their valuable support.
Upcoming Trail Days
All trail work dates are tentative, so confirm on TAMBA’s Facebook page and the calendar on our website. Additional dates are added all the time.
If you’d like an mail invitation to trail days as they’re created, send an email with NORTH or SOUTH in the title to our Trails Director, Scott Brown, at scott@TAMBA.org.
Stanford Rock
TAMBA is building more new trail this year at Stanford Rock. Even for Tahoe, this is an exciting project. In 2018, TAMBA volunteers built nearly two miles of trail at the upper elevations of Stanford Rock, and we’ll pick up where we left off this year. Here’s what’s on tap for the rest of the 2019 season:
- New singletrack near the bottom: This year we’ll be working near the bottom to re-route the trail out of a drainage. The new alignment will have stronger environmental controls, earlier snow melt, and better views. We’ll be replacing a steep logging road in a drainage with a gently flowing singletrack. Less logging road, more singletrack.
- New Stanford Rock Summit Trail: Did you know that Stanford Rock Trail doesn’t go to Stanford Rock? We’ll be restoring historical trail access to Stanford Rock Summit. There are few opportunities in Tahoe to ride to a mountaintop summit. The summit trail will provide incredible panoramic views that few have seen with a flowy new mountaintop finish.
- Backcountry re-route: TAMBA volunteers will be completing one last re-route near the Tahoe Rim Trail intersection. We’ll be re-routing an eroded fall line section into a sustainable climb with great views of the lake.
We have the following August trail days planned to keep the momentum going on this exciting project:
Dates: Wednesday, August 7; Wednesday, August 14; Wednesday, August 21; Sunday, August 25
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 or 2:00 p.m.
Where: Ride or hike up the trail and look for posted signs
What to bring/wear: Long pants, long-sleeve shirt, helmet (bike helmet okay), protective glasses (sunglasses okay), long-finger gloves (bike gloves okay), sturdy shoes/boots, water, snacks, sunscreen, mosquito repellent.
For more trail day details, contact Sandor Legynel at sandor@TAMBA.org.
Stumpy SG
We’ve made good progress on the Stumpy SG Re-Route and we want to keep the momentum going, so we’ve scheduled some upcoming trail days for August:
Dates: Saturday, August 10; Friday, August 16; Saturday, August 24
Time: 8:30 a.m. to carpool to the trail or 9:00 a.m. at the trail if you prefer to bike in. Come out for a few hours or stay the whole day. If you plan on working from 8:30 or 9:00 to 4:00 p.m. we’ll buy you lunch, but you’ll need to RSVP no later than 24 hours before so we can order food. RSVP to John Clausen at johnnyxride@gmail.com.
Where: For carpooling (dirt road, 4-wheel-drive needed), meet at Tahoe City Public Utility District office parking area at 221 Fairway Drive in Tahoe City. If you’re riding your bike in, look for TAMBA crews just down from the top of Stumpy DH (Stumpy’s Meadow on Trailforks). Stumpy DH is just a few hundred yards north of the top of the Ocelot Trail and just north from the Burton Creek State Park intersection #20.
What to bring/wear: Long pants, long-sleeve shirt, helmet (bike helmet okay), protective glasses (sunglasses okay), long-finger gloves (bike gloves okay), sturdy shoes/boots, water, snacks, sunscreen, mosquito repellent.
